If it’s been a while since you carved a pumpkin, or if you’ve never carved a pumpkin, this can be a fun (albeit messy) activity to do with family and/or friends. If you have young children, adult participation and supervision is a must since you need a knife to get the desired spooky results.
First, pick out a pumpkin with a good stem. This will be the handle you need to carve around creating a lid to open the pumpkin and scrape out its stringy guts. If you do this indoors, let’s say, on the kitchen table, cover the table with newspaper. Place your gorgeous gourd on the table, carve around the stem, then lift it off and set it aside.
Now, dig inside with hands and spoons to remove all the seeds and slimy pumpkin guts and plop it all on the newspaper — making a big scary mess!
What about all those seeds? Rinse off the seeds and let them dry until you’re done carving the pumpkin, then spread them out on a cookie sheet with a little olive oil and salt – or any seasoning you think would taste good. The seeds don’t have to be perfectly clean of pumpkin innards; they’ll still taste good.
Toast the seeds in the oven at 350°F for about 12 to 15 minutes, tossing them every five minutes or so. The seeds are done when they smell a little nutty and turn golden brown.
Back to your pumpkin… Pick a side to carve the face and draw your idea on the gourd. Then with the knife, carefully cut out the face you have drawn. Once you’re finished you can place a candle, real or battery-powered, inside your masterpiece and set it on the front porch ready to scare away all the ghosts and ghouls while you munch on frightfully good pumpkin seeds! How frightfully good? Pumpkin seeds contain zinc, magnesium, phosphorus, copper, niacin, a little protein, and tryptophan — to help everyone get a little sleep after all that Halloween candy.
Libby’s® Pumpkin Bread
Ingredients:
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. each nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon
1 1/2 cups each granulated sugar and packed brown sugar
1 cup oil
2 cups canned pumpkin
4 eggs
1 cup each raisins and nuts (optional)
Instructions:
Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices. Add the sugars, mixing well.
Mix dry ingredients with the oil and pumpkin, stirring until well combined.
Add eggs, one at a time, blending thoroughly. Pour into two greased and floured 9 1/2 x 5 1/4-inch loaf pans.
Bake at 350°F for 50 to 60 minutes or until tester comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes. Remove from pans. Place on wire rack to cool. Makes 2 loaves.
Recipe courtesy of Cooks.com, an archival collection of free cooking recipes and articles available to the general public.
Gravity Lounge Pumpkin Cheesecake
(Gravity Lounge is the name of a now-defunct restaurant in Tallahassee, Florida, circa 2003.)
Ingredients:
2 oz ginger snaps (7-10 cookies), finely crushed
3 8-oz packages of cream cheese
2 cups packed brown sugar
3 eggs
2 cups pumpkin puree (canned okay)
2 cups sour cream
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
Instructions:
Grease sides and bottom of springform pan. Dust with ginger snap crumbs, leaving loose crumbs in the bottom of the pan.
Cream 1 1/2 cups brown sugar and cream cheese until smooth. Add eggs one at a time, beating well and scraping sides of bowl in between. Add pumpkin, 1 cup sour cream, spices and vanilla. Beat until well blended.
Pour mixture into pan and bake at 350°F about one hour until edges are firm but center still jiggles.
Mix 1/2 cup brown sugar and 1 cup sour cream until smooth and pour over cheesecake. Sprinkle with a few ginger snap pieces or crumbs. Turn oven up to 400°F and bake five more minutes.
Remove from oven, bring to room temperature and then refrigerate at least two hours.
